Review – Fe (PS4)

The quick purple fox jumps over the lazy weekend

In Fe you play as a purple shadowy fox/bird like creature who wanders into a forest that seems to have been invaded by cycloptic machine like golems that call themselves the Silent Ones. As you start out in Fe you will wander into a magical looking forest before you and meeting other creatures; the forest looks vibrant and has its own style of visuals that I haven’t seen in any other game. The forest is heavy on the purple and magenta colour which is not a bad thing as it plays with its overall style and theme that Fe goes for. It has it’s own style of characters and objects too where everything is triangular from the trees to the plants; the water is stunning and crystal bubbles form as you wander through it.

Starting out Fe can sing to other creatures done by a light key press of R2; the pressure at which you push changes Fe’s pitch at which he cries and doing it too much or too little won’t allow you to converse with the other wildlife. Once you learn the right balance then other creatures will help you. Venturing further is not as simple a task as jumping and singing to birds as you will need to learn their language; this is done by helping them out. This allows for bigger exploration options allowing you to reach greater heights and areas that you otherwise couldn’t reach before.

I have already mentioned how the game has it’s own distinct style and it definitely shows. As shadowy and dark Fe himself is he is quite tame and weak in comparison to the golems and other creatures who inhabit the land; the golems have glowing bright eyes that are constantly looking out for you and other creatures; they also give off a shroud of yellow and orange that taints the forest itself just to let you know that it is dangerous. The game allows you to hide from such beings such as in the spiny bushes but if they see you make a run from them it is pretty much game over.

The stone monuments scattered around the land are to help you on your journey and give clues should you sing to them revealing images and clues of how to overcome obstacles nearby. One issue I had was that I spent ages trying to figure out how to overcome one task as I had no clue what to do; it was only till after I had finally figured it out that I came across the stone wall with the clue that made it more obvious; this of course was my own fault for not exploring more and really there is no reason as to why you wouldn’t as the world of Fe is one worth doing. Some puzzles can be tricky and without any sort of dialogue it is sometimes more difficult to figure them out on your own. Fe’s singing abilities can get other fauna to sing who will cause flora in the world to react creating platforms for Fe to reach higher ground. One of the first abilities Fe will unlock is the ability to climb trees which allow a definite platform experience from higher ground or to be amazed in the worlds beauty.

Fe is pretty linear in terms of gameplay but it definitely has many nooks and crannies to explore. Longevity is Fe’s shortfall as the game is around three and a half to fours hours short but you could add extra time to that if you were to get all the collectibles and it is definitely one that I will be doing. Fe’s world is vibrant and while it doesn’t change much through progress it does have its moment of beauty and scenery does change but for the most part everything is the same.

For this reason first Fe didn’t grip me as I thought it would but hearing the sounds and ambience along with the world I was exploring I couldn’t put it down. It may not be for everyone but if you enjoyed the success of Journey and Unravel then I think this game may just help fill that void that you may be missing. I found Fe itself quite dark so parents may want to check it out before giving it to a minor.

A PlayStation 4 Review code was provided by Electronic Arts

Good for a long weekend

80%

Summary Fe is a perfect game to play over the weekend to kill some hours; there isn't much replay value though besides the collectibles but still definitely one that I have enjoyed all the way through.